Toy electric railway



NOV. 2, E D. BOISSELlE-R TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY Filed July '7, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Suma/who@ Nov. 2, 1937. E. D. BolssELlER TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY Filed July 7, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet V gg 311.45m@

GMMMMI Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY Application July 7, 1936, Serial No. 89,418

3 Claims.

AThis invention relates to toy electric railways, and has for its general object to provide means whereby any train carried electrically operable device, such, for example, as an electric whistle, 5 which is intended to be operated only occasionally, may, by remote control, be operated at will either from the same source of current as is used for operating the train, or from a different source of current, without in any way affecting operation or control of the train.

-According to one practical embodiment of the invention, the railway track is provided, in addition to the usual third rail for supplying current to the train driving motor, with a fourth rail `for supplying current to any train carried electrically operable device which is intended to be operated only occasionally, and the supply of current to said fourth rail is independent of the supply of current to the third Vrail and is under the control of any suitable manually operable switch, so that, while the train either is running or is at rest, the occasionally operable device carried therebymay be operated at will simply by closing and opening the circuit including the fourth rail without in any way affecting operation or control of the train. v

Since the usual third rail is located midway between the wheel supporting rails, and since it is undesirable to deviate from this prior and general practice, the fourth rail is located to one side of said third rail. For carrying current from said fourth rail to an occasionally operable electrical device on a locomotive, its tender or a car,

, the locomotive,tender or car, as thecase may be,is

35' provided with a shoe for contact with said fourth rail. In this connection, another object of the invention is to so construct said shoe that the same is engageable with the fourth rail, and cooperates therewith equally efficiently, regardless of whether the train moves forwardly or backwardly and regardless of whether the train is reversed end for end in being placed upon the track.

`With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel combination and arrangement of features as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated 'in the accompanying drawings and dened in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a toy electric train rent collector shoe for the train carried occasion- 5" ally operable electric device engaged with the fourth rail of said track section.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the track section shown in Fig. 2, illustrating a vehicle on said track section carrying an occasionally operable 1I)` electrical device tofbe supplied with current from the fourth rail of said track section; and

Figure 4 is an end view of the track section and vehicle shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates generally in Fig. 1 a toy electric train track of the well known figure eight type composed of a plurality of track sections a and a crossover b in accordance with common practice. It is to be understood, however, that the track A, considered as an entirety, may be of any other desired shape and may or may not include Crossovers, switches, and frogs. As distinguished from the ordinary track of the prior art having the usual pair of wheel rails and an intermediate current carrying or so-called third rail, the present track includes, in addition to the usual wheel rails designated as I0, IU and the current carrying or third rail designated as I I, a fourth rail designated as I2 which also is a current carrying rail. While this fourth rail I2 may be located wherever desired with respect to the rails I and I I, it preferably is located adjacent to one side of the usual medially located third rail I I and preferably is included only in the ordinary track sections a and not in any crossovers, switches, frogs or the like which may be used in any particular track, although it may also be included in Crossovers, switches and frogs if desired. If it is not included in Crossovers, switches, frogs or the like and if one or more of the latter is, or are, included in the track, jumper wires as illustrated in Fig. 1 and designated as I3, may be employed to complete the circuit between its ends to opposite sides of the crossover, switch, frog or the like. In any event, the provision for the supply of current from either a conmion source, or from separate sources, to the rails II and I2 is Vsuch that the current supply to the fourth rail I2 is entirely independent of the supply of current to the third rail I I. In this connection, Fig. 1 illustrates that both of the rails I I and I2 are supplied with current from a common source I4 through a transformer I5ihaving separate connections I6 and I'I with the third and the fourth rails II and I2, respectively, and

that the latter connection includes therein a switch I8. This switch I8 is normally open and may be of the vpush button type or any other type suitable for quick operation. Thus, current may be supplied at will to the fourth rail I2 entirely independently of the supply of current to the third rail I I, and since current is taken from the third rail I I for operation of a train in the usual well-known manner, and current is taken from the fourth rail I2 for operation of a train carried device such as an electricwhistle, it is apparent that, simply by operating the switch I8, the train carried electrically operable device may be operated at will, by remote control, entirely independently of operation and control of the train.

The whistle or other electrically operable device, designated generally as I9 in Fig. 3, may be carried by the locomotive, its tender or a car and may be of any desired construction. Moree over, any suitable means may be employed for contact with the fourth rail I2 to carry current to said device i9. 25 .for'this purpose is pivoted at one end, as indicated at 2 I, to a piece 22 of insulating material suitably fastened to one of the trucks of the vehicleV carrying the device I9 and a wire 23 is employed to connect said shoe 2D to said device I9. The free end portion of the shoe 20 is bifurcated to straddle the third rail I9 and to include a pair Vof arms 24, 24 disposed to opposite sides of said third rail, respectively, and, Vof course,

the constant tendency of said arms is to swing downwardly under the influence of gravity. Said arms are spaced apart so that each of them is disposed substantially the same distance from the side of the third rail II as the fourth rail I2. Therefore, one or the other of said arms, under the influence cf gravity, contacts with the fourth rail I2 regardless of lend for end reversal of the vehicle carrying said shoe when placing the vehicle on the track. Moreover, it is obviously immaterial to which side of the third rail II the fourth rail I2 is disposed, and whether different parts of the fourth rail I2 are disposed at oppositesides of the third rail II, for obviously, in either case, one or the other of the arms 2,4 will engage the fourth'rail and current will be supplied to the device I9 whenever the fourth rail I2 is energized.

The fourth rail I2 may be mounted on and may be insulated from the usual metallic ties 25 of the track sections aI in the same well-known manner as the third rail I I or in any other suitable manner, and any suitable means may be employed for effecting the connections I6 and II between the transformer I and the rails II and I2 and the usual ground connection Illa between the transformer and one of the track rails I0. In this connection and as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3

' and 4, one of the track sections a may be provided with a base 26 of insulating material; a clip 2l for the connection Ia, may be fastened to one of the ties 25; the fourth rail may be formed to straddle the ties 25 and to be supported by depending flanges 28 upon the insulating material 26, and clips for the connections I6 and I'I may be fastened to said insulating material and may be connected to the third rail and one of the flanges 23 of the fourth rail, respectively.

As in the case of the rails I5 and the third rail II, the fourth rail of each track section a may have a pin at one end and a socket at its other end for the connection of the sections of said fourth rail in end to end relationship in Preferably, however, a shoe y the same well known manner as the rails I0 and The shoe 20 preferably is of one piece construction and its arms 25, 24 preferably are curved upwardly from points intermediate their ends toward their free ends so that the effective arm may slide freely along the fourth rail I2 regardless of the direction of travel vof the vehicle carrying said shoe.

As illustrated in the present instance, the device I9 is carried by a locomotive tender 29 which is movable along the track A by a locomotive L supplied with current in known manner from the third rail II. However, the vehicle carrying said device IQ may itself have a propelling motor supplied with current from the third rail I I in known manner, as will, of course, be understood.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the drawings it will be apparent that according to the present invention a simple arrangement is provided whereby a train carried electrically operable device which is intended to be operated only occasionally may be operated at will by remote control either from the same source of current as employed for the operation of the train, or, obviously, from a different source of current, without in any way affecting operation or control of the train.

While only a single structural embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is apparent that the invention may be embodied in various other structural arrangements within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. in a toy railway, a track having a pair of vehicle wheel supporting rails, a third rail between said track rails to carry current, a fourth rail between said track rails and-adjacent to said third rail to carry current, a vehicle on said track rails, electrical propelling means for said vehicle electrically connected with said third rail, an electrically operable vehicle signaling device on said vehicle simulating the signaling device of a.

vehicle of a standard railroad and electrically connected with s aid fourth rail, an electric circuit including said third rail and said vehicle propelling means, means in said circuit at a point remote from the vehicle propelling means for opening and closing the same, thereby to control movement of the vehicle along the track, a second electric circuit independent of said rst mentioned electric circuit and including said fourth rail and said signaling device, and a switch in said second mentioned circuit at a point remote from the vehicle for opening and closing said second mentioned circuit at will, thereby to actuate said device without affecting the vehicle propelling means, said second mentioned circuit including a current collector shoe carried by the vehicle for cooperation with the fourth rail, said shoe being mounted for vertical movement relative to the vehicle and being bifurcated to span the third rail and to provide a fourth rail engaging portion at each side of the third rail.

2. In a toy railway, a track having a pair of vehicle wheel supporting rails, a third rail midway between said track rails to carry current, a fourth rail between said track rails and adjacent to said third rail to carry current, a wheeled vehicle on said track rails, electrical propelling means on said Vehicle electrically connected with said third rail, an electric circuit including said third rail and said electrical propelling means, a switch for opening and closing said circuit, an

electrically operablevehicle signaling device on said vehicle simulating the signaling device of a vehicle of a standard railroad, a current collector shoe on said vehicle electrically connected with said signaling device, said shoe being pivotally connected at one end vwith the vehicle and having its other end free for vertical swinging movement, said shoe being mounted midway between the sides of the vehicle and having its free end portion bifurcated to clear the third rail and to provide a pair of contact arms disposed respectively to opposite sides of the third rail for engagement one or the other with said fourth rail regardless of end for end reversal of the vehicle on the track rails, a second electric circuit including said fourth rails and said shoe and said signaling device, and a switch in said second circuit for opening and closing the same.

3. 'Ihe combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the current collector shoe comprises a sheet metal plate having ears at one end thereof for pivotally mounting it on the vehicle, andin which the spaced contact arms of said shoe are upwardly curved toward their free ends and are provided at their sides with upwardly extending marginal stiening anges.

EARL D. BOISSELIER. 

